On Saturday morning, we all went to the hospital. They inserted a balloon type thing inside of me that would help me dilate. It wasn’t very comfortable, but it helped get my body ready for being induced the next day, so I was glad it worked.
On Sunday morning your Dad and I woke up early. We didn’t sleep hardly at all because we were excited about you coming. Dad held me close to him and felt you squirm and kick for the last time before you were born. It was a very happy night as we held each other and talked about how lucky we are to get to be a Mom and a Dad. When we got up, we showered and got ready for the big day ahead. Dad ate a big breakfast and I just ate a little one so I wouldn’t get sick. We checked into the hospital and they took us to the room where you would be delivered. They hooked me up to my IV and put monitors around my belly to watch your heart beat and my contractions. You sounded very healthy. They started giving me pitocin which made my contractions come. After 3 hours, the contractions were still manageable. Then they started getting stronger. My back started hurting every time I had a contraction, and we learned that it was because you were turned the wrong way. You were facing the front of me, but you were supposed to be facing the back. I told my nurse that my contractions hurt and she asked me, “On a scale from 1-10, how bad is your pain?” I said, “What number do I need to be at to get an epidural, because I am at that number now.” She called in the doctor that would give me the epidural. I heard that it was pretty painful to get the epidural, but I was having a contraction when he did the whole thing, so I wasn’t able to pay attention to the pain of it.
Within 10 minutes, my contractions seemed to fade away, but they weren’t really. The epidural made my body numb from my ribs down so that I didn’t feel any pain the rest of the day. People that don’t get an epidural are pretty tough. I experienced enough of the pain for my liking and felt much happier with the wonderful companionship of the epidural. This is how I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening, happy for the epidural and that I brought my own pillow.
My contractions kept on coming and I was progressing really well. By 4:00 pm I had dilated to an 8. They decided to break my water and they expected that you would be coming pretty soon after that. I got really shaky like I was freeing cold, but I wasn’t cold. The nurse said it was probably just all the adrenaline in my system preparing to give birth to you. Dad and I got really excited when we heard that. I thought I would have you by 5:00 pm or so. We kept on waiting and hoping we wouldn’t have to wait much longer. We were both getting really hungry. Dad was going to go down to the car to get his homework to read while he was waiting and to grab something to eat at the cafeteria. The food was expensive at the cafeteria, so he ran as fast as he could to Carls Jr. across the street. He came back with a bag of burgers and he was sweating a lot. He didn’t want to miss your birth even though we were told that my progress had slowed down a lot. He enjoyed his food and we both took naps hoping that time would pass faster.
At 9:00, the doctor and nurse did an ultrasound. They checked on you to see what position you were. You were face up, and that wasn’t good. It is really hard if not impossible to push a baby out that is face up. It was looking like we might have had to do an c-section to get you out unless you flipped over to be face down. I didn’t want to have a c-section, so I prayed a lot and hoped that you would turn over somehow. I was lying on my side and one nurse told my nurse of a trick that might work. They piled as many pillows as they could between my legs as I lay on my side. Then they would roll me over to my other side every 15 minutes. Dad had to help because my legs were too numb to move them on my own. They felt like they had cinderblocks strapped to them and they felt so heavy. It looked strange how I was laying there, but with the epidural making most of my body numb, I couldn’t feel if I was uncomfortable or not.
At 11:00 I called the nurse in. I felt really shaky again and I felt some pressure on my hips. I wasn’t sure if the epidural was wearing off and I wanted to make sure it didn’t. I told her how I was feeling, and she got really excited. She called in my doctor and some other nurses and told me that this baby of mine was ready to come out! David and I got really excited and were very relieved that it was finally time.
I worked for 45 minutes to push you out. I got really nauseous and started to throw up at the very end of it all. That seemed to be the final touch because it seemed as if you just jumped right out. I couldn’t believe what I just did and it was great to have David there with me the whole time. He was great at encouraging me and he kept telling me that he was so proud of his wife. He got in trouble with the nurses. When they told me to hold my breath and push, your dad also held his breath. They told him that he needed to breathe the whole time or else he might pass out and then they would have to take him off to the ER and he might miss the baby coming. He had to focus on breathing really hard since he wanted to see you really bad.
The NICU team was there in the delivery room. They needed to suck out the fluids from your nose and mouth so you didn’t swallow it and get sick because you pooped before you came out of my belly. They didn’t let Dad cut the cord, but he was happy about that. I was watching you as you were weighed and getting the fluids cleared out. You were crying and your arms and legs were flailing everywhere.
Then they handed you to me. I couldn’t believe I was holding my very own little baby. You stopped crying and just looked at me. You had very soft black hair and your head was a little cone like. By the next morning your head was nice and round already. Your cheeks were very round and your eyes were very squinty. You had little tiny black hairs on your shoulders and back. You weren’t too hairy, but just little tiny hairs that we found. I loved looking at you and talking to you. I was able to feed you for the first time and it went well. Dad was standing there next to us and he was rubbing your back as he talked to you. We couldn’t stop smiling and we were so happy to meet you. We gave you lots of kisses and you didn’t seem to mind.
My recovery went really well. I got some food right away and it was so good. Dad got an oreo shake and was happy too. While I ate my food, they assessed you and made sure you were healthy. By 1:30, the epidural had worn off and I was able to go to the bathroom with some help walking there. We were all moved to our recovery room and that was where we stayed for the next two nights. I felt great after I got some sleep. I was fed well and the nurses came in to check on me to make sure my body was healing properly.
The night you were born, you had a fever of 102.? degrees. They took a sample of your blood and found that you had a high white blood cell count. This meant that you had an infection. The doctors took you to the NICU so that they could help you. They monitored you for the next 3 days and gave you some anti-biotics. They did some tests to find out more about the infection. The tests showed that the infection was all cleared up and that you were healthy. It was hard to stay in the hospital the extra days.
Dad and I would visit you all the time if we weren’t eating or sleeping. Dad gave you a blessing that you would be strong and healthy. I would come and sit with you and feed you any time you were hungry. Dad liked reading fairy tales to you, but you almost always fell asleep. You were a really big eater and you always let me know when you were hungry. The nurses were sad to see you go. They really liked having you there. You were one of the only full term babies there. The others were born early and needed to be left alone to finish growing. The nurses loved to hold you and fix your hair while I was gone. You got lots of attention while you stayed in the NICU and I think you liked it. I was just glad when we were finally able to go home on Thursday.
We love being home with you. Grandma Gigi is here helping and you like to take naps with her. She doesn't want this picture on here, but you look so relaxed.
Dad and I would visit you all the time if we weren’t eating or sleeping. Dad gave you a blessing that you would be strong and healthy. I would come and sit with you and feed you any time you were hungry. Dad liked reading fairy tales to you, but you almost always fell asleep. You were a really big eater and you always let me know when you were hungry. The nurses were sad to see you go. They really liked having you there. You were one of the only full term babies there. The others were born early and needed to be left alone to finish growing. The nurses loved to hold you and fix your hair while I was gone. You got lots of attention while you stayed in the NICU and I think you liked it. I was just glad when we were finally able to go home on Thursday.
You are such a precious blessing in our lives. You are adorable and make silly faces. Don't worry, Dad makes silly faces all the time.
We feel so peaceful when we are holding you. You only cry when you are hungry, but only sometimes. You make lots of silly faces. Sometimes you look grumpy, like you are trying to whistle, like you are confused, or like you are happy. Sometimes we just sit and watch you make all your silly faces. We absolutely love you and can’t believe you are so cute! We can hold and kiss you for hours. It is so much fun having you here and we feel so lucky to be your parents.
1 comment:
You are such a beautiful family! I think Katelyn looks like David, maybe it's just the dark hair though. We are so thrilled for you and we can't wait to meet your beautiful little girl! And Lorry, you look amazing! Love ya!
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